Fate:DUST
by xCanaan
Summary: [Discontinued]
1. Ch01 Eyes are Windows to the Soul

**Chapter 01 – Eyes are Windows to the Soul (Prologue Start)**

* * *

 **QUEEN HAS PAWNS.**

The gray-haired man read the message on his scroll. His face molding into one of apprehension. Things were escalating. Things he knew too little about. He knew there was some entity, or entities, plotting in the shadows. The increasing occurrences of Dust heists was only one of the more obvious signs. This incident at the docks with team RWBY only cemented his fear. There was a tragedy just waiting to happen, and he had too little information at his disposal to plan effective countermeasures.

He sat himself down at his desk, resting his left hand on his chin. With his right hand he swiped his scroll back to the footage of the docks. The paused video of the four members of team RWBY accompanied by a blonde Faunus glowed from the screen. He rewound the footage and watched the encounter on the docks from the beginning again, hoping he hadn't missed a detail. Hoping that he'd catch _something_ that he would be able to make us of.

He found nothing, or at least something he hadn't already known.

He took another long sip of coffee from his mug and sighed as he finished the last drops. Cold.

Closing the paused video of team RWBY, he opened his contact list. Selecting Glynda's name from the list, he held the scroll up and waited. His headmistress had always made it a point not to contact her through video conversation when she was off-hours, although, he never quite understood the reason why. Women, he mused, were creatures that even he had no hope to understand.

"Yes Ozpin?" droned the voice of the blonde woman, through the speaker of the scroll.

"It seems Team RWBY was involved in an incident down at the docks tonight. The police are escorting them back to Beacon. Let them rest for the night as I no doubt they are tired. However, please have Miss Belladonna report to me immediately."

"First the incident at Forever Fall and now another? It's no surprise the Grimm have been concentrating around Vale as of late…" She sighed and paused for a second. "Alright, I'll meet them at the gate and inform them." She responded with the sounds of shuffling accompanying her voice. "Is there anything else you needed?"

"Do you know which instructors are still at Beacon during the semester's end break?" he inquired. For the life of him, he had never been able to keep track of the activities of all his teachers. Oum knew that he had more important things to do, and that was why he was grateful for Glynda's ability to run Beacon almost by herself.

"Hmm… I'd have to double check, but from the top of my head I believe Peter and Bartholomew are still here," she replied after some thought.

"Perfect. Have a good night Glynda."

"And you as well," answered the stern woman, before hanging up.

He pocketed the scroll and gazed around his office. It was rather late. Grabbing his cane, he walked into the elevator exiting his office, leaving behind the ambient sounds of massive gears turning. He idly mused that they seemed to be louder than usual as the doors closed in front of him, but he chalked that to his imagination.

* * *

"And thus the Ursai were no match for my sheer tenacity!" Port proudly stated as he recounted the stories of his adventures for the third time, claiming it was a 'sneak peek' of future lessons. He held his head high as if waiting for a light from the heavens to illuminate him, to bath him in light and show just how great he truly was. Unfortunately for him, the cargo hold of a bullhead was not the best place for God's light to shine. He made due with the glow of artificial light, even if it was a poor replacement.

The rather round teacher was enamored with counting his "exploits" against the Grimm, something that quickly became old. Even knowing that the Grimm, being the soulless monsters hell-bent on destroying mankind that they were, could be defeated in such different and entertaining ways didn't appeal to his students anymore. Nobody needed the image of the round, mustached man covered in oil and in nothing but ripped pants in their minds. The night after _that_ particular lesson had seen a record number of people suffering from nightmares.

"Ugh… this was supposed to be a punishment, not torture. How does he have this much energy this early in the morning," groaned Ruby Rose, the young leader of the RWBY team in a sour mood due to having missed her morning cookie.

At fifteen, the was the smallest of the group, as well as the most noticeable, due to her red hooded cloak, as well as her red and black themed clothing.

Next to her sat Yang, her older sister. At seventeen, the older sibling was almost the polar opposite of Ruby, with bright blonde hair while Ruby had deep red locks. And unlike the rather covering clothing of her sister, Yang's attire showed a lot of skin, emphasizing a figure that she had every reason to be proud of.

In front of Ruby sat Blake, Yang's partner. The quiet girl wore her usual black and white attire, with her signature black bow perched on her head, and hiding two black cat ears, the distinctive signs of a Faunus, a human with animal appendages. She was perhaps the luckiest of them all, for she had her head in a book, allowing her to tune out the tales of their boisterous teacher.

And finally, next to Blake sat Ruby's partner, Weiss Schnee. With white hair and white clothes, she was the stereotypical princess-like heiress, her family being one of the largest fortunes of Remnant. This showed in her behavior, but underneath the shell of a rigid heiress, her team knew that she cared about them just as they cared about her. It was just not her type to show it.

"One could say our situation is quite… un-bear-able, eh? Eh?" Yang said with a grin stretching from ear to ear.

"Honestly, Yang? Any other day I would have stabbed you with Myrtenaster, but I am quite certain our team leader wouldn't appreciate me killing her sister," groaned Weiss Schnee. As usual, the young heiress was less than amused with her teammate's less than stellar puns.

"Oh wow… How Weiss of you," smugly countered the buxom blonde.

"Ugh…" Weiss gave up trying to stop the blonde, resigning herself to silence as any further attempts to stop the demon pun-lord only fed her strength.

"This is why weapons are much better than people! They don't make me want to shoot myself, just other things," grumbled Ruby, the red-clad girl looking over her own weapon, inspecting it for anything she might have missed during her latest maintenance, "Isn't that right my baby?" she cooed as she cradled Crescent Rose in her arms. Ruby could be quite… eccentric about weapons. Hell, half of beacon already knew that in just one semester. When a girl appeared out of nowhere, firing fifty questions a minute about your weapon, some you didn't even have answers for, you tended to notice those things.

Blake on the other hand had not been paying attention to Port's embellished tales of heroism or Yang's cringe-worthy puns. She was in deep reflection as she mused over the events of the day before, the skirmish at the docks her team and her had had with less than reputable individuals. Roman Torchwick. The White Fang. Then, her meeting alone with Ozpin. Ozpin who had revealed something she hadn't even thought about since she left the White Fang. Blake wanted change to come, to improve the Faunus image. The only problem was that she had no idea how to go about bringing such a change.

She would think about this later once they were back at Beacon. Right now, she would focus her attention on her team. The ones who hadn't abandoned her even after learning of her true nature.

However, her nerves were not relaxing. She felt the hair of her arms standing at attention. Her cat ears twitching incessantly in anticipation of… something. She wanted to box herself in a corner and lash out at anyone who came too close. Holding back her instincts, she just nervously tapped her fingers on her thigh.

Dismissing her thoughts, she chalked it up to pre-mission jitters. It was the first 'official' mission of team RWBY after all. It would be better to not muck it up, not when it would improve their standing in the eyes of the faculty after their adventures with the White Fang.

A few minutes had passed when Port's tales were interrupted by the crackling of the speaker.

"This is your pilot speaking. We'll be approaching our drop zone in about ten minutes. Over."

"Ah, it seems I'll have to finish my grand story next time. Ladies, please prepare yourselves," ordered the boisterous man, his earlier cheer fading into something more focused.

"Our mission," Port started, "Is to hunt down a pack of Beowolves that have been harassing a nearby village. However, the Grimm have been congregating in the area as of late. So it is up to you, as huntresses-in-training, to be prepared for anything."

He finished with a wink, resulting in a simultaneous groan from the four girls, then walked into the cockpit and shut the door behind him.

The four girls began to do their regular weapon and gear checkups. Ruby was testing to make sure Crescent Rose would transform, switching it continuously between sniper and scythe forms. Weiss verifying the dust revolver built into Myrtenaster was functioning. Blake merely checking to make sure Gambol Shroud was loaded and returned to her nervous vigil. Yang loaded Ember Celica and waited for the fireworks to start.

"E….. E…. M... M... II.. I I I... YYY Y Y... A AA A..."

As the last minute check-ups were being complete, a strange prickling feeling took over her fingers, as if countless ants were crawling over them.

"Huh, that's weird," she mused aloud, raising her hand in front of her face and realizing it was slightly shaking.

"Jeez little sis, didn't know you still get stage fright," grinned Yang, having noticed her sister's odd behavior.

"That's strange. I thought it was just me. I felt like that around five minutes ago," Blake shared with her team. Leave to a Faunus who had a sixth sense about things. They were part animal after all, so their enhanced senses allowed them to detect things regular humans would never even begin to notice. Of course, they were quite sensitive about the animal part, just because they had extra appendages didn't mean they were any less human.

"I don't see what you guys are talking about. I don't feel anything," groaned Weiss, the heiress looking less than pleased with the tangent her team had gone on.

An awkward silence found itself between the members of Team RWBY. Ruby, unable to deal with awkwardness, was about to speak up when…

"EEE….. EE…. MM... MM... M.. M.. II.. I I I... YYY Y Y Y... A AA A..."

A violent shockwave reverberated through the bullhead and their bodies, making them stumble around, using whatever they could to stabilize themselves, while they could hear several alarms blaring off from the cockpit, sign that _something_ had gone very wrong.

Fortunately, the turbulence was short, and soon the bullhead stabilized itself, the alarms blaring a few more times before ceasing their racket, allowing the four teens to finally release their hold on whatever they had used to keep themselves standing.

"What the hell was that?!" Ruby heard Yang blurt out.

Looking around the cargo hold, Ruby felt a wave of unease taking hold in her heart. She started walking towards the starboard window to get some answers on just _what_ had shaken the bullhead so violently. Just as she was about to poke her face through the window, a blinding multicolored flash came through blinding Ruby and the girls behind her. It resonated throughout the air, the four girls' Auras flared in response to this foreign energy.

As if it was a bad omen, right after the flash blinded the four teens, the bullhead started to drop, its engines having ceased functioning. Plummeting through the air, the girls started to scream, while they could hear the pilot cursing as he tried to reboot the engines. Ruby felt an arm wrap around her waist and pull her back, grabbing onto the appendage for dear life as she tried to understand what was happening. Just as quickly as the heart-stopping experience came it stopped. The jet engines of the bullhead roared back to life, the lights flickering back on, and the sirens screamed back to life only to be immediately shut off by the pilots.

"Ladies! Are you all right?" inquired a worried-looking Professor Port, sticking his head through the entrance of the cockpit. The man had none of his usual cheer showing, instead replaced with the cold professionalism of a veteran Hunter.

"Don't worry Professor. Looks like we're all A-okay!" Ruby answered the worried teacher with a thumbs up. Looking down, she found Yang's arm wrapped around her, securing her as the blonde had her other arm wrapped around a seatbelt. Though the position they were in was less than ideal, as Ruby could feel the rather large bust of her sister squished against her head.

"Yang, you can let go now."

"Oh… right," blinked the blonde, releasing her hold on the smaller girl since they no longer risked crashing. She also released the seatbelt she had wrapped around her arm, though the made sure to keep it within reach, who knew when the engines might fail again?

"That was some ride, right guys?" joked the blonde, hoping to alleviate the rather serious mood.

"Professor!" A voice rang out from the cockpit, "You need to see this!"

As the man's head disappeared back into the cockpit, Ruby walked over to the window she originally planned to peer out of, hoping to see what had alarmed the pilot. Fortunately for her, this time she was not interrupted, and she was able to look outside, only for her eyes to widen as she gasped in shock.

Curious to see what had surprised the red-haired girl, the other three girls also came and peered out the window.

They were currently flying over a smoking crater, which, from where they were, was about two meters deep as its' deepest, while also being a good mile in circumference. What made it peculiar was the fact that unlike the ground at the edge of the crater, the earth _inside_ the depression was black as night, with an oily tint to it.

"How did we survive what caused this?" whispered Blake, her eyes wide with fear and her ears twitching, "Whatever created this crater, we were likely just beside it!"

"Why aren't the trees around the crater also gone?" gulped the young team leader, unable to understand how said tress hadn't been blown away by the explosion.

"I don't' know what did this but we should get closer to investigate. We should also send a message to Ozpin about this," said Weiss, who, despite trying to appear unafraid, was still shaking slightly, her usually pale skin almost white with fright.

Nodding to her partner, Ruby walked up to the entrance of the cockpit, knocking on it hard enough that she would be heard from the other side.

"Professor! Have you seen what's outside!?" she called.

"Yes Miss Rose. We know," came the voice of their teacher, no trace of his usual cheer in sight.

"Shouldn't we contact Professor Ozpin?" inquired Weiss.

"I already have, Miss," grunted the pilot.

"I will report to Ozpin, may I ask you and your team to investigate the crater, miss Rose? I have full confidence in your abilities, but if at any time you feel you are in danger, I want you to retreat immediately. We don't know what caused this, so I want you to be extremely cautious. Grimm don't create explosions, so there is a high possibility that people may be responsible, and they might not be happy to see us here."

Ruby nodded, her face serious. The fifteen years old had switched fully in leader mode, and would act as such for the duration of the mission.

"Yang, Blake can you head down to check it out. Weiss and I will stay here with Port, call if you need help," she ordered.

"Right/On it, sis," were the answers as the two partners jumped from the bullhead.

"Beacon is picking up. The connection is coming in," called the pilot.

In the middle of the control panel, a screen came to life as a middle-aged, gray-haired man wearing spectacles, accompanied by a mature blonde woman in a white blouse appeared on the screen.

"Ah Professor Port and Miss Rose, it seems you've contacted us regarding a situation."

Before the mustached teacher could answer, he was cut off by Ruby, who had already started listing what was known of the situation.

"Well Professor, we were heading to the village for our mission when a huge explosion shockwave thing hit us. The lights went out and we fell from the sky. We're okay by the way. But there's this huge crater here."

Other people would have needed to breathe to deliver all this information, but Ruby Rose managed to fire it all without once taking another breath.

"We have indeed noticed a sudden seismic activity, but unfortunately the even was too brief to gather enough data about it," informed the blonde woman, crossing her arms beneath her bust.

"Ah yes, we felt it here as well. While it was bit short, for the moment the accepted cause is a Rem-quake," nodded Ozpin, though it was clear as day that he wasn't convinced by the explanation.

"In the Emerald Forest, Sir? And leaving a crater? This is rather unlikely," frowned Weiss as she squeezed herself to get in front of the screen.

"I happen to agree, Miss Schnee, but without more information we can hardly speculate. Peter, can I ask you and team RWBY to investigate and report your findings?"

"Ah, I already have Blake and Yang doing that. Let's go and help them, then, Weiss. We'll keep you updated, Sir, bye!" saluted the redhead, before starting to drag her partner with her to help their team look for the cause of the explosion.

"Perfect Miss Rose, I'll have Team JNPR proceed to your location immediately," smiled Ozpin, waving at the retreating leader.

"Um, sir? What about the village we were supposed to arrive at? Aren't they expecting us?" Ruby asked, pausing.

"I think it'll be fine Miss Rose. They probably felt it as well and assumed we went to investigate it first. I'll send a message to them regardless, to tell them to expect you a bit later than what was originally planned."

Ruby smiled, looking relieved, before once again dragging her partner with her towards the exit of the bullhead.

"Alrighty Weiss! Let's go meet up with Blake and Yang!"

"Release me, you dolt! I can walk just fine!"

As Ruby did so, the pair reached the bullhead's exit, jumping out to join with the other members of their team. As they left, Ozpin fixed his stare back on the teacher, his gaze serious.

"Peter, I know I don't have to remind you, but keep watch over them."

"Ha-ha, you need not worry old chap. These young maidens are safe with me!"

"Also, if you encounter anyone do your best to bring them back to Beacon for questioning. Do you understand?"

"Crystal," nodded the boisterous teacher, readying his blunderbuss-axe, just in case the explosion had attracted Grimm.

"Oh, could you please lower us? I can't leap out of airplanes like I used to. Young-ins these days…" chuckled Port, getting a nod from the pilot as the bullhead lowered its' altitude, before he too jumped out, following his students with the firm intent to keep them safe.

* * *

-Back at Beacon-

"Please inform the Vale authorities that it seems to just be a simple rem-quake, Glynda. We don't want to incite panic," commented Ozpin, sipping from his ever-present cup of coffee. The drink was what kept him alert enough to deal with the craziness that was Beacon when he didn't get enough sleep.

"But Ozpin, Vale doesn't get rem-quakes. The last recorded one was over five years ago and was minuscule compared to this one."

Glynda Goodwitch, Ozpin's right hand, was a stern looking blonde, always impeccably dressed and accepting nothing but the very best from her students, which showed in her stern attitude. Few dared to anger her, and most students prayed quite fervently to Oum whenever they did something they knew would incite her anger, that she wouldn't notice.

Dressed in a white corset and a black skirt with leggings, she was a beautiful woman, like many Huntresses, with an aristocratic face and delicate traits further enhanced by the steel-rimmed glasses she wore, as well as the dark purple cape attached to her shoulders. Her stern expression was further enhanced by her weapon of choice, a riding crop, and many a student found themselves quite terrified of the apparatus given that it helped her control her Semblance, Telekinesis, masterfully.

"That may be true, but we still don't want to incite panic. Please report it as a simple rem-quake," repeated Ozpin, sipping his coffee and looking deep in thought.

Despite his age, he looked quite young, the only indication of his real age being his silver hair, which meshed quite well with his attire, which was mostly green. A deep green, not a fluorescent one. He hardly looked impressive at first glance, but his reputation was more than enough for anyone with a brain to realize that despite the initial lackluster appearance, Ozpin was an _extremely_ dangerous individual, and not only because of his status as Headmaster of Beacon.

"Very well," came the clipped answer from his most trusted friend. Glynda didn't like lying, never had, but even she knew that sometimes doing such was necessary. Unnecessary panic was a very real danger on Remnant, given that it could attract the Grimm like moths to a flame.

"And Glynda? You must also remember that the last one revealed a warrior, don't you?"

Her eyes widened.

"You don't think…"

"Oh, but I do, Glynda. I most certainly do."

* * *

Back in the Emerald Forest, Blake and Yang were on the edge of the treeline overlooking the crater. Blake herself was overlooking the crater itself, while Yang was covering her and keeping a vigil for any Grimm that might sneak up. The Grimm that had been suspiciously absent so far, which was not always a good thing.

"See anything Blake?" asked Yang without looking back, keeping her gaze upon the forest.

"Nothing, but black dirt. Wait. Scratch that. I see something," Blake quickly corrected herself as she picked out human-shaped figures in the distance. It was difficult to tell any defining features but it appeared that there were about four people down in the crater.

"Do you think it's any of the villagers we were supposed to meet?"

"I don't think so. From what Professor Ozpin and Port told us they've hunkered down because of the Grimm. I don't think they'd come out all the way out here, not without Hunters with them" The raven-haired girl answered, refocusing her gaze on the figures.

"Blake! Yang! Did you find anything?" A squeaky voice came out from the forest. Stepping out from behind a tree, the source revealing itself to be Ruby, with Weiss following right behind. Just as the team members reunited, Professor Port came from another direction, also joining the four girls.

"There's four people nearby the center of the crater, and I don't think they're villagers," reported Blake. The cat Faunus using her superior senses to try and glean more information.

"Perfect Miss Belladona. Our mission now is to bring anyone who might know what happened here back to Beacon. Although, we'll need to bring them to the village before going back to Beacon, especially if they are in need of medical help. Once Team JNPR arrives then we'll depart for Beacon with our guests. Let us proceed ladies!" ordered the teacher, his weapon ready.

"Yes Sir!" came the enthusiastic reply from the four young women.

The group of five left the cover of the treeline, and made their way down the crater's edge, all their senses extended to the extreme. While there was no indication that the people Blake spotted were hostile, it was better not to take any chances, not to mention that Grimm might be in the area. The slope was rather gentle so it made their trek towards the center of the crater rather easy as the soil crunched under Ruby's boots. The smell however…

"Oh Oum. It smells horrible," complained Weiss, while pinching the bridge of her nose.

The air smelled of sulfur with a slight electrical tang to it, the smell of rotten eggs and ozone. Not a pleasant mixture, and it didn't help that Team RWBY had eggs for breakfast earlier in the morning. Whatever remaining hunger they had quickly died, replaced by queasiness.

"These people better have a pretty good reason for being here," growled the heiress. Weiss took it harder than the rest of the entourage as she had lived a rather 'clean' lifestyle up until worse smell she had to put up with being the Grimm's.

"Hang in there Weiss. We'll try to get this over with as quick as we can," said Ruby, trying to comfort her partner, though she herself was pinching her nose while making a disgusted face.

Weiss nodded in response and returned to silence, still holding her nose.

After a few minutes of careful walking, RWBY and Port finally reached the epicenter of the crater, stopping about a few dozen feet away from the center and the four people Blake had sensed. As Ruby gazed at the group, silver eyes full of innocence met steel-silver eyes filled with weariness.

'Silver-eyes?' blinked the teen. She had met a lot of people since attending Beacon, and so far she was the only one she was aware of who had silver eyes. It was something that even Ozpin himself had noticed the first time they had met, so it was rather distinctive.

The young man that had met her gaze was wearing what appeared to be rather simple clothes, a plain white v-neck t-shirt with blue accents, and blue jeans, while a red cloth was wrapped multiple times around his left arm. His auburn hair surprisingly had strange random tufts of white hair throughout it, as if he was aging prematurely. Despite all of this, the silver-eyes were what held Ruby's attention. She had never encountered another person with silver-eyes other than her mother. But these eyes were different than her own brightly shining eyes. These eyes reminded her of Ozpin's own eyes, eyes that had seen far too much, dull and almost dead, haunted by past experiences that would have broken lesser men.

Regardless, as she continued to stare back into the man's eyes, Weiss, Yang, and Blake halted when they realized their leader's unblinking gaze and turned directly at the young man before them. However, what they noticed was not the silver-eyes, but the shining black and white swords that lay in the young man's hands. Almost unperceptively, they shifted their stances to be ready to defend themselves should the need arise, the presence of weapons making them wary of the group.

"Ruby," whispered Weiss, breaking the young leader out of her trance.

She took in the details of the other three people. One of them was looking at their team while pushing another behind her, shielding the person. The one shielding was a young woman who seemed to be the same age as the man and the rest of Ruby's teammates, a rather attractive young thing with long black hair in twin-tails hairstyle with black ribbons holding them up. She was wearing a long-sleeved, red turtle-neck blouse with a black mini-skirt and socks reaching her thighs that covered most of her delicate-looking skin. Her clothes were in tatters however, as all the members of the group seemed to have gone through a major battle, their clothing having suffered numerous tears. Piercing blue eyes stared at the group of students and their teacher warily, seemingly analyzing them and the threat they posed.

The standing woman was very different from the previous one. She was much taller than her companions, with her being roughly the same height as Professor Port, and had long purple hair that nearly reached the ground she stood on. Her figure was enough to make even Yang self-conscious, not even the long-sleeve black shirt and jeans being able to hide the woman's perfect proportions. Black framed glasses perched on her nose only served to give the beauty a sexy librarian air, quite similar to what Glynda Goodwitch projected, minus the sternness.

The last woman, who was lying unconscious behind the twin-tailed lady, seemed to be wearing a long black dress with red-lined accents flowing vertically through the dress, though it was hard to tell given that she was partially hidden from view. Her dress only partially covered what appeared to be a deathly pale complexion, reminiscent of bone given how pale it was. Speaking of her skin…

'What in the world?' blinked Ruby, staring.

The woman had black veins running through her feet and hands, with more presumably hidden beneath the fabric of her dress. The mere sight of it caused Ruby to tighten her grip of Crescent Rose nervously, the sight reminding her of the Grimm.

Lying behind the knees of this "Grimm" woman, she also spotted what seemed to be a small, red leather chest.

"Hello there!" Professor Port broke the silence. "If I dare, may I ask who you are, and where your group came from, as I'm afraid that this area is quite dangerous," he added, fingers twitching on his blunderbuss. He had obviously seen or felt something the other girls did not.

"Before you ask a question of us, you should introduce yourself first," called the young man, his eyes steely. His voice was still the one of a young man, further solidifying Ruby's guess on their respective ages.

"Ah I suppose that would be fair. My name is Professor Port from Beacon Academy and this is Team RWBY," called the man, gesturing the four young women, waiting for them to introduce themselves.

Ruby looked around to her teammates and they nodded back to her.

"I'm Ruby!" waved the redhead, giving a smile, hoping to defuse the tension.

"Weiss."

"Blake."

"Yang," her teammates though were quite clinical in their introductions, keeping their tensed postures in case something happened and they were attacked.

The young man and twin-tail hair girl looked at each other, then back at Ruby. Perhaps a bit in a state of slight disbelief of the seemingly narcissistic naming convention of the team before them, since it to an uneducated person, it would seem as if she was either very self-centered or someone named them as a joke.

The three of them stepped closer to the unconscious woman still on the ground, and seemed to be having a group discussion, both the purpled haired woman and the young man glancing at them every few seconds.

Blake's hidden cat ears twitched, the faunus using them to listen on the group's conversation, hoping to glean useful information.

"Blake, can you hear what they're saying?" whispered Ruby, her eyes not leaving the odd group.

"I think they don't know what Beacon or huntresses are. Although, they're comparing us to something called Enforcers. No idea what that is… And they just questioned our ages. They think we're just kids," growled the dark-haired girl, looking offended.

"Ha-ha, you are young ladies after all," chuckled Port quietly while retaining his gaze on the long-haired woman. He appeared to be quite smitten with purple-haired beauty.

"Can you tell us who you are now?" Ruby spoke up in place of the Professor.

The young man looked back to his companions. They both nodded to him and he turned back to face team RWBY.

"My name is Shirou Emiya, and my partners here are Rin Tohsaka and… Rider. We're from… we're not from around here."

"Rider? What kind of name is that?" grinned Yang, looking at the purple-haired beauty with waggling eyebrows. It was clear that she implied Rider was named after her tendency to…seek human contact.

"What are you doing here?" asked Ruby, knowing that if she let Yang start, they'd never get to what interested them. Although, she was a little curious to the reason for the name.

At her question, Shirou glanced at the two women, clearly asking them their opinion, as he whispered something, while being answered in turn by his companions.

"It seems they're saying something about how they can't tell us otherwise they'd risk themselves. The same goes for us as well?" reported Blake, looking a bit confused.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Yang, looking strangely at her partner. "Are they like super spies, that if they told us they'd have to kill us or what?" she quickly added with an eyebrow raised.

However, given that she had spoken a bit louder than Blake, Shirou seemed to hear her, turning around and raising his weapons, his eyes resting on team RWBY and their teacher warily.

"I think they know I was listening into their conversations," reported Blake.

'Did they figure out Blake is a Faunus?' wondered Ruby, after all not many humans would be able to hear a conversation from so far away.

"It seems your bow-wearing friend can hear our conversion. Eavesdropping is rather rude. In fact, it would be rather detrimental to your immediate health," said Rin, her voice hard. Yet even as she spoke, she did not move from where she was, shielding the still unconscious woman behind her with her body.

"Wow, she sounds like Weiss on a bad hair day," joked Yang, who was grinning. The rest of team RWBY and even Port chuckled softly in agreement.

" I do not act like that!" countered the heiress, receiving incredulous looks from Ruby and Blake.

"Alright, I can be a little bit like that sometimes, but that is beside the point, we are getting sidetracked!" conceded the white-haired teen.

A groan came from the girl laying on the ground behind Rin, who upon hearing the sound, turned around and placed her hand on the young woman behind her.

"Sakura, don't move around too much. You aren't in any state to move, not after being under Angra Mainyu's influence!" pleaded the pigtailed girl, showing a greatly different face of herself than when she had faced team RWBY.

"Angra Mainyu? What's that?" wondered Ruby, speaking aloud. It sounded like an ancient evil god… or a bad name for a sunday-morning cartoon villain.

"It's alright Nee-san, after what you did for me, this is nothing," spoke the woman, trying to rise, her legs shaking greatly, as if she was exhausted. Upon seeing her struggling, Shirou ran over to the now-known Sakura and helped her stand, acting as if she was made of glass and showing great care in being as gentle with her as possible.

"Ah, thank you Sempai," spoke Sakura, her voice surprisingly soft and timid, "It's nice to see you too Rider."

The purple-haired beauty nodded silently with a small smile on her face, coming behind Sakura and placing her hands on the girl's shoulders in a comforting manner.

"It's okay Sakura, just take it easy," softly said Shirou, fussing over the young woman.

"Now back to where we were," said Rin, once she had checked on Sakura and been satisfied that she wouldn't topple over as soon as she looked away.

As the four broke apart from their small huddle, team RWBY could finally make out the appearance of this Sakura. Now that her face wasn't obscured by Rin, it was evident she had long silvery-white hair with a hint of purple at the tips, with a pink ribbon tied on the left side. As glimpsed from the aspect of her hands and feet, she had a deathly-pale complexion, with black veins running up her neck and stopping in a root-like manner on her cheeks. She had a small dagger-like gash on her right shoulder that seemed to have scabbed over recently. However, what was the most terrifying what wasn't her skin, or hair, or her strange color scheme.

No. The most terrifying part about her was her eyes.

Where there was supposed to be white in her eyes, was nothing but blackness. She had blood-red pupils, that seemed lifeless. It was a rather morbid contrast to her frail form.

In crude terms, she looked like a human-shaped Grimm.

'At least her blood is still red,' mused Yang, looking at the wound on her shoulder.

"Um Professor?" asked Ruby. She had no idea on how to react to someone who looked like Sakura, and clearly hoped that a more experienced Hunter would be able to tell her what to do.

Port looked completely shocked, his mouth ajar and a bead of sweat falling down his forehead.

"Ah yes..." eventually blinked the man, "We need to bring these 'folks' to Beacon and figure out what happened here."

"Okay Professor. You heard him guys, let's try to convince them first," nodded Ruby.

"Um, Shirou right?" she asked, team RWBY slowly making their way closer to the mysterious group, "If you'd like we can bring you back to Beacon for safety. There's a lot of Grimm in the woods right now," she explained with the most innocent look she could muster, and sheathing Crescent Rose on her back, putting her hands up while slowing approaching the group.

The four of them looked at each other. Team RWBY was very much unnerved by the Grimm-lady Sakura returning her gaze on the four of them.

"I'm sorry. We can't let ourselves be detained by anyone," Shirou responded back, looking genuinely apologetic.

He turned around to face the three women at his side and spoke softly to them, Rin crouching down, grabbing the red-leathered chest in one hand and grabbing Sakura's right arm with the other. Shirou stepped in front of both of them, his gleaming white and black swords with a hexagonal pattern at his sides.

Ruby visibly tensed. Both she and Shirou knew what was about to happen. These people wouldn't allow themselves to be placed under watch of anyone, yet she would try to convince them nevertheless. She was a Huntress. She was supposed to protect people and defeat the Grimm! Not hurt people, even Grimm-looking ones!

"Oh… We don't want to hurt you, we just want to ask some questions at that's it. I promise."

"I'm sorry. We can't go with you. I'll ask you to please turn around and go back to where you came from," was Shirou's answer, his swords gleaming in the light.

"I assure you lad. We mean no harm, but we can't say the same of the Grimm. They'll be all over this place soon," intervened Port, hoping to end things without violence.

"We can take care of ourselves," growled Rin, her voice arctic.

"Come on Sis, there's only one of them who's armed! Rin there is seriously weak, she's shaking from whatever she went through, and Sakura can barely stand on her own two short-stuff guy doesn't look like much of a threat, he's just got some fancy swords. Even Rider doesn't look like much! " grinned Yang, lightly jumping in anticipation. She was getting giddy at the prospect of fighting an unknown foe. For a battle-lover like her, this situation was to die for.

Shirou scoffed at her declaration.

"Um… last chance?" Ruby childishly hoped they would change their mind.

Shirou shook his head.

"I'm sorry it came to this. Rin, protect Sakura and Illya please."

"You know I will, she's my sister. We didn't go through everything just to lose her again. I'm more worried about you. You dolt," snorted Rin.

'Wow she really is like Weiss, they even use the same words,' mused the group of Huntresses, minus Weiss herself.

'One could say she's rather Weiss-y' grinned Yang, though she did not voice her pun, before blinking. 'Wait? Illya? Who's Illya? There was only four of them. Where's the fifth?'

Shirou then glanced towards Rider.

"Rider."

They faced each other for a second, Rider just nodding before returning his gaze back.

"Come back to us Sempai," this time Sakura in her frail voice.

"Of course I will, I'm your hero of justice after-all," was his answer, as the Grimm-like girl very visibly blushed and looked down at her feet. "Can't let Archer's and Saber's sacrifice be in vain after all," silently muttered Shirou, rolling his arm wrapped in the red cloth.

'A hero of justice? Maybe he's like me?' Ruby looked at him with puzzlement. She knew being a hero of justice was a childish dream, she was, however, a child. One in dire need of growing up. She wondered what could be said of this young man that had same dream as her. He was obviously a few years older than her.

Her teammates, however, looked rather surprised at his declaration. Regardless, they had enough of this waiting game.

"It looks like we can't go with you. We'll have to settle this by force," remarked Shirou.

His posture didn't change, not moving even an inch from his position. His eyebrows were slanted, his face slowly forming a permanent scowl, his eyes seeming to glow an even more brilliant silvery color than they were before. What's more, Ruby could almost swear that more of his hair was turning white under her eyes.

She grabbed Crescent Rose from its sheath on her back and extended it into its scythe form, Shirou seemingly slightly amused by the unorthodox weapon she possessed. Once it was fully extended, she readied herself, the blade of her scythe touching the ground.

Immediately as Crescent Rose hit the charred soil beneath her, team RWBY shot forward, ready to fight the unknown man, with unknown fighting style, and unknown motivations.

Their opponent, however, stood his ground as the four girls were bearing down on him.

He simply grinned, before opening his mouth and speaking words that would forever remain in team RWBY's memories:

"I AM THE BONE OF MY SWORD."

-END-

* * *

 **Authors Notes:**

Yay! That was a fun rewrite! I hope everyone enjoys this version much more than the one before! I certainly did!

Major kudos and thanks to **Arawn D. Draven** for his amazing insight when I was rewriting this chapter. Without his help, I probably would have taken much longer to get this out and have a less than stellar quality. Give his own stories a read as thanks!

I will be slowly working on chapter 03 (College Life) as I'm sure you'd guys would prefer story progression over me rewriting the 2nd chapter. So any newcomers, don't worry too much about the quality drop in the 2nd chapter. This chapter is technically newer than the next.


	2. Ch02 Beyond the Hill

**Authors Notes:**

 **September 1, 2016 - I've rewritten chapter 01 please check that out!**

 ** _I am not rewriting this chapter, and even if I did, the end results would not change. Only our main cast (on the description of the story) are going to Remnant. I assumed most of you want story-progression over another rewrite._**

* * *

 **Chapter 02 – Beyond the Hill (Prologue End)**

Nothing but white, white as far as the eye can see. There's no shadows; As no sun exists to cast shadows.

'Where am I?' Shirou pondered as he looked around trying to find something recognizable. It was hard to tell if he was even standing on something for when he looked down it was just white. Was he moving? Was he stationary? It seems such things didn't exist in this strange region of reality.

He felt at ease; However, despite the white desolation surrounding him. It was like the whiteness was a mother caressing a child.

"Am I dead?" he slipped out. He could still feel his limbs, lungs breathing, and heart pumping blood through his veins.

"Ara Ara! He thinks he's dead Saber. We should play along and tease him." A soft voice sung out. A voice that seemed vaguely familiar, but not at the same time.

"Please don't tease him too much. He is my former master." Another voice spoke out. This one was much more familiar. It belonged to Saber.

"Hmph, okay Saber." She pouted. She obviously a bit upset she wouldn't be able to tease him.

Shirou turned around, or at least he thought he turned around. It was hard to get a grasp of direction in this speck of reality.

Standing before him were two women. One regal and majestic, her blonde hair tied up in a pony tail instead of her signature bun. She was wearing an immaculate black suit with no creases to be seen. Her sharp green eyes staring back at Shirou.

The other woman was the other end of beauty. She had a motherly look to her that spoke of years of experience. Her long silvery-white hair cascading to her lower back. She was wearing a long white dress that reached past her feet with golden accents running along the dress. Her soft red eyes looking at Shirou. It was not a look of pity, but rather of understanding.

"Saber? And is that?…. Irisviel?" Shirou looked in surprised as he gazed upon the mother of Illya and his former ally. To his knowledge Irisviel was the core for the Grail in the 4th war fifteen years ago. Why was she here?

"Ah Shirou It's good to see you. Especially after the… events… that took place. Glad to see it all worked out." Saber rather cheerfully stated..

"Where are we Saber?"

"We're in a sliver of reality that was occupied by the Holy Grail. It used to be a rather dreary place not too long ago. Terrible residents and whatnot. At least _**he**_ got evicted. The fragment is closing up since the Grail no longer exists. The fabric of space-time doesn't allow for 'empty space.'" This time Irisviel responded looking rather proud of her knowledge.

"Then why are we here?"

"Because I wanted to speak to my step-son and savior of course!" She proudly announced, putting one of her hands on her hip.

"Oh that's right we destroyed the Grail, so it seems your soul was released from it." Shirou concluded from recalling his memories.

"But wait! Where is everyone else? Where's Sakura? Rin? Rider? I can't be the only one who survived." He almost yelled in panic.

"Don't worry Shirou. They'll be here in a minute. You were the closest one to the Grail when it was destroyed so you're here early. Although minute wouldn't be the correct term since we're technically outside of time." Saber replied calmly.

Shirou quietly pondered to himself. His friends were okay. He looked back towards the two women in front of him. His gazed focus on Irisviel and realized something.

"Irisviel I need to apologize to you."

"Ara? For what?" She had a look of confusion on her face..

He bowed towards her, ready to apologize for his inability to save everyone.

"I wasn't able to save your daughter in time. Gilgamesh killed her when we arrived at the Einzbern manor. Although, we were able to prevent him from using her has a core for the Grail. I even promised Kiritsugu I'd save her." His face writhed in sadness recalling the death of his step-sister.

"I see… If you are apologizing for something you had no control over you must feel really bad about it. Although Shirou you're forgetting something. Saber be a dear and fetch Illya for me please?"

"What?" He spoke out in disbelief. He raised his head towards them. Illya was dead. He saw her core being ripped out and her body torn asunder. They managed to save the core as something bury after the war and kept it in a….. red-leathered chest…

"Here you go Irisviel." Saber nonchalantly handed her the small red-leathered chest. What? That chest was supposed to be at the Emiya household.

"Ara, thank you Saber. Don't look too surprised Shirou we're outside the laws of time right now. A little thing like grabbing an object in space isn't too difficult. Well at least for a heroic spirit." She walked over to Shirou and handed him the chest.

He opened the chest to find Illya's magical core and Kiritsugu's letter to Illya that Shirou was supposed to give her before her untimely demise.

"The one thing you forgot, Shirou, is that a homunculus like Illya and my previous self had their souls contained inside their magical core that doubled as a heart. Although, regular homunculus don't have souls."

"Wait so are you saying that?..." His spirit rising in anticipation.

"Yes Shirou. You can still save her. Of course, the only ones who knew how to make a perfect homunculus are the Einzbern. I doubt they would help you considering you just destroyed the Grail. You'll have to find some other way to do so. So I'll trust you with my daughter like I trust Kiritsugu. I'm dead after all, not like I can do much more for her. Although, you must promise me two things Shirou."

"Anything." He replied immediately, not missing a beat.

"Ara! So eager to please. I can see what you liked him so much Saber." She teasingly giggled.

She stopped after a moment and stared at Shirou. Her face returning to solemnity. "But really, you must promise me this."

"Anything at all." He replied again with more resolution.

She opens her mouth ready to speak. Her voice cracking slightly.

"When you finally save her, the first thing I want yo do to is to tell her how much Kiritsugu and I loved her. I don't want her to resent us or you. So tell her everything that you know." She continued her gaze at Shirou. Small tears were forming in the corner of her eyes. He simply nodded.

Her voice ready to break.

"I know she wasn't able to live as a child she should have. The Einzbern took that from her. So the second thing I want you do to is for her to live her childhood again. Spoil her, pamper her, let her throw fits even when she's wrong, give her all the ice cream she wants, fall asleep from watching too much TV, scold her when she gets in trouble, make her laugh from bad jokes, go to school, help her make friends, graduate, find a job, fall in love…."

The list continued. She was sobbing tears from her face now. Saber reached over her shoulder and brought her in for comfort. Saber herself had salty mist forming in her eyes, perhaps reminded of her own life. Irisviel sniffled into Saber's shoulder.

Shirou himself was not crying. If anything he felt immense relief that he could still save his step-sister. The promises Irisviel gave him he would have given without even her asking. So he only stood there and watched as she continued to cry until she was ready to speak again.

Sniffling for the last time, she wiped away the last remnants of tears on her cheeks. She broken away from Saber and faced back towards Shirou. Her face not appearing if she just cried her heart out. Back to its usual pristine motherly self.

"Now that we're back on course. We'll need to talk about ' _ **that**_.'"

To Shirou's side appeared an unconscious Sakura. Her beauty tainted by the corruption of Angra Mainyu. Although the Dark God no longer possessed her; It's influence had not faded away. Her previously red veins had turned to black throughout her body. The veins ran from the tips of her hands and feet to the root-like endings on her cheeks. Her purple hair turned white, although a small bastion of purple hid at the tips. She was still wearing the black and red dress that Angra Mainyu provided her with. Shirou held her frail form in his arms, afraid he would break her from the slightest touch. She had lost a lot of weight, her previously well-endowed body was now light and bony.

"Ah yes, Sakura. The girl you were willing to sacrifice everything for from the control of _**All the World's Evils**_. The demented entity that had corrupted the Holy Grail during the third War. The last time I saw him was when you casted him from the Grail. It was cursing your name the entire time." Irisviel shared.

Shirou recalled the phantoms that spewed from the black entity as it possessed Sakura. Numerous black figures with white bony plates on their bodies. They took the form of bears, werewolves, scorpions, giant birds, and various other creatures, both normal and fantastical. Every time they would strike one down the body would evaporate. It would return to the main entity controlling them only to be reformed again. Shirou shivered in fear and thanked his luck that they were even lucky enough to get close to Sakura.

"That _**thing**_ is not gone forever though." She added with a look of scorn on her face.

"As long as humans hold resentment, fear, anxiety, jealousy, or any other negative emotion _**it**_ will continue to exist. For that is _**its**_ purpose. At least it can't act as a monkey's paw in the Holy Grail anymore." She sighed. Her face still contorted with disdain.

"It even had the audacity to take my form to manipulate Kiritsugu. Well… At least we knew how that turned out." She spat out for the last time.

"Will she be okay?"

"She should be, given enough time. Although she might be more sensitive to moody atmospheres and emotional outbursts. But for the most part, she just needs time to heal. A positive environment would do her best."

Irisviel walked over to Shirou and the woman in his arms. She put her hand on Sakura's chest and closed her eyes. The azure glow of prana resonated in her hand.

"Hmm… a lot of her magical circuits have been burned out completely. Probably a side-effect when _Angra Mainyu_ was forceably severed from her. She should have plenty of remaining prana from the rest of her circuits and that's not even counting her connection to Akasha. Since she still has her command seals, I assume Rider is still alive. She should still function as a very, very good bodyguard for the most part." She grinned knowing that last statement was a huge understatement.

Shirou lifted the lid of Sakura's left eye. The white of her eyes replaced with blackness, and her iris still blood red. He let the eyelid return back to his closed position. Silently cursing himself for letting such a thing happen to Sakura. He quietly resolved himself to never abandon her. He would become her hero of justice, and nobody else's.

The blue glow softly flickered away. Irisviel let out a sigh and made her way back next to Saber.

"It looks like the rest are coming in Irisviel." Saber shared, looking off to the 'horizon.'

* * *

"God damn it! Where in the world are we!? We've been walking for like an hour and I can only see white! UGH." That was obviously Rin, complaining loudly that even Shirou had to wince from hearing her voice.

"Rin, please keep your voice down. I'm right next to you. And I already told you where we were for the fourth time." A much more stoic voice belonging to Rider replied back.

"I know. I know. I just want to find Emiya-kun and Sakura before something…. What is it Rider?"

"I think I found them Rin." Rider pointing her finger in the direction of Shirou's group.

"What really?" Rin turned her gaze towards the direction of Rider's finger.

"Oh… there they are…that was a bit.." Rin stated with disbelief.

"I mean.. THERE HE IS! THAT DOLT THAT MADE ME WORRY! Time to punish him for his transgressions!" She immediately sped towards Shirou leaving even Rider in the metaphorical dust.

"Oh shit." Shirou said in a low voice, bracing for the inevitable impact. Nothing could sate Rin's anger until she had her fill of punishment. He could only quietly take the punishment and pray he wouldn't die in the process.

"EMIYA!" She leaps forward tackling Shirou knocking him over.

"YOU IDIOT, YOU DOLT, SWORDS FOR BRAINS!" She yelled as she began to smack him on the head. She brought in Sakura into her embrace and again restarted her verbal assault.

"You halfwit! You made me worry so much! I thought you died with Sakura!" She was pounding her fists on his chest. Burying her face into his shoulder.

"I thought you left us all alone... I was so scared… I didn't want to be all alone anymore…" she wailed. Her tears staining the tattered remains of Shirou's shirt, some escaping and falling on the sleeves of Sakura's shirt.

Shirou laying there in shock, could only put his arms around her. He didn't say a word as Rin wept into his shoulder. He only brought Sakura and Rin closer to his embrace. The two of them kneeling together with Sakura laying in Rin's lap.

Rider had slowly caught up. She scanned the joined couple before her, taking in what had happened, and gave Shirou a faint smile and nod.

Shirou turned his gaze towards Saber and Irisviel. They nodded to each other in unison. Irisviel and Saber quietly waved their hands in goodbye, and began to walk into distance. Rin still weeping quietly in his arms.

* * *

After quite some distance away from the group, Irisviel spoke up.

"Ara! I forgot to tell him something!" She put her hands to her face in false despair.

"What did you forget to tell him?" Saber looked at her inquisitively.

"Oh well! It should be fine." Obviously teasing Saber with a non-answer.

"Seriously Irisviel?" Saber muttered in disbelief. Rubbing her brows.

"Anyways Saber. Once we get to Kiritsugu I'm going to give him a piece of my mind. It's been building for fifteen years after-all! You should too!" She hinted with a gleam of mischief in her eyes.

"Yes quite. Give him what for." She replied dreading what Irisviel had in mind for Kiritsugu's punishment.

"Then the three of us will finally reach _Beyond the Hill_ and get what we've been waiting for all these years."

"That sounds quite nice, Irisviel. Let's pick up Kiritsugu first however. One thing at a time."

"Okay!"

They walked and walked as made their way further into the whiteness. Finally reaching the place they have been hoping for.

* * *

(*back to where Shirou was*)

Rin had finally pulled herself away from Shirou. Still sniffling from her waterworks a few moments earlier.

"Shirou, is Sakura okay?" Noticing Sakura sleeping down in her arm's.

"She's fine Rin. It just needs time to heal." He assured her. She began to stroke Sakura's hair as she looked down at her peacefully sleeping sister.

"Okay. Anyways who were those two that were here just earlier? I didn't get a good look at them."

Shirou recounted his encounter with Saber and Irisviel. He told her of the revelations Irisviel had told him. That they still had a chance to save Illya, and Sakura's condition that would recover in due time. He gave the chest that contained Illya's core and letter to Rin showing them how they brought it to them from the Emiya household. He told her of what had happened to Angra Mainyu and how _**it**_ wasn't truly destroyed.

"I see, that's some good news for the most part. Even if we didn't get rid of that thing completely, we still dealt a good sucker-punch. And we still have Rider so Sakura's command seals are still functioning despite the Grail being gone." She began to monologue.

"Although I have no idea how to even start with Illya's situation. I specialized in a completely different field of magecraft. I have no idea how to even make a homunculus to function as Illya's body. Anyways that's a problem for the future that we'll figure out eventually." Rin stated with a look of deep-thinking.

"Regardless," Rin speaking up once again. "We have to figure out a way out of here otherwise we'll starve to death. Or the forces of nature will tear us to pieces once the fragment fully closes.

"And how do you propose we do that? As you can see there's nothing notable to go off of here." Shirou said while sweeping his arm in all directions.

"Well if we..." Rin started only to cut short.

" _EEE….. EE…. MM... MM... M.. M.. II.. I I I... YYY Y Y Y... A AA A..."_

They sky suddenly took color different from white. Shadows had appeared everywhere.

The 'ground' shook as the disembodied voice resonated through the air. Off to the 'horizon' a dark blur was forming. Shirou reinforced his eyes only to met with the face of _**All the World's Evils**_ once again. The black humanoid shade with piercing red eyes wearing a white mask. It was staring directly at him despite the distance. It roared with a piercing scream, revealing black ichor dripping from his mouth. From the black substance, the same creatures the gang had fought earlier were forming. Black shades of werewolves, ravens, boars, bears, gryphons, and many others all wearing bone-white masks. The humanoid shade stopped screaming. Raised his disfigured arm towards Shirou and screamed once again. This time all the creatures of darkness charging forward towards them. The shade dropped to both knees as if exhausting all of its strength, merely watching its disfigured creations sprinting forward.

" _EEE….. EE…. MM... MM... M.. M.. II.. I I I... YYY Y Y Y... A AA A..."_

The sky distorted in proportion bending the light in awkward angles. There was no way to tell distance now. The shaking intensified.

"Shirou! The fragment is starting to collapse! We gotta go!" Rin hollered.

"Where are we supposed to go!? If you hadn't noticed we're outside the concept of time!" Shirou barked.

"I don't know but away from those things!" Rin sharply replied. She pulled herself up.

"Okay. Rin grab the Illya! I got Sakura!... Rider! Rin! Let's go!" He ordered as he lifted Sakura piggy-back style. She still had not awaken.

Shirou sprinted in the opposite direction from where he thought the creatures of Darkness came from. It was difficult to tell where one was going. The fragment of reality was collapsing as space-time tried to reclaim the empty space. Light was bending in unnatural ways, disorienting the group.

"Just follow my voice Rin! Rider!"

"Right!" Rider and Rin called back.

A sliver of blue light began to form in the distance. Shirou changed direction and directed Rin and Rider of where to go. Their muscles were burning. They were already exhausted from the previous confrontation. Shirou was probably the one in best condition despite him being grafted with Archer's arm earlier. He could hear Rin and Rider panting in exhaustion.

"We're almost there!" The blue sliver of light becoming even brighter.

The unholy growls of the creatures growing closer and closer.

"Almost there!" Shirou cried out.

Sprinting on the last vestiges of energy, the trio held in few a more for yards as they reached the 'hole in reality.'

"Jump!" Shirou screamed as he shut his eyes and jumped through the hole in reality.

The sharp clamp of a monster's jaws sounded behind them, barely missing them.

The world around them exploded in color, in glorious blues, regal reds, deep greens, bright pinks, and an infinite palette of others.

" _EEE….. EE…. MM... MM... M.. M.. II.. I I I... YYY Y Y Y... A AA A..."_

Shirou hit the ground feet first and immediately spun around. He softly placed Sakura on the ground behind him, and traced Kanshou and Bakuya ready to defend his friends from the creatures of darkness.

Only to realized he wasn't in the fragment of reality anymore. He looked forward in a daze. He was standing in the middle of a crater with dark, charred soil. The soil crunching his his feet. The edges of the crater ornamented with vast forests of green. He took a look to the left to find Rin kneeling and panting on the ground exhausted. Rider to his right also scanning Shirou with Sakura on beside him, confirming Sakura was safe.

He took a deep breath, and found the air to taste like sulfur and ozone. Whatever appetite he had was now gone.

He looked towards the pale blue sky, clouds in the distance. It seemed it was still early in the morning. Perhaps a few minutes before sunrise?

He continued his circled gaze of the heavens and found something that shook him to his core.

The moon was shattered.

"Rin, Rider, I've a feeling we're not in Fuyuki anymore."

```````````End```````````

 **Authors Note:**

Yay We're finally in Remnant!

As you can see, I dropped the original chapter 02 and skipped directly to what I wanted to originally get to. Hope this doesn't upset too many people considering I got many angry PM's for the previous chapter 02.

Also I ended on a cliff-hanger again. Muahaha. It's prologue though, it's all good. (I enjoy torturing my readers) I just had to quote Wizard of Oz at the end there. It's too perfect!

 **P.S.** If you know what inspired the title of this chapter _**"Beyond the Hill"**_ good for you! I wish they made more of it! I could listen to that track all day.

 **Look forward to the rewrite of Chapter 01! And Chapter 03!**

 **September 1, 2016 - I've rewritten chapter 01 please check that out!**


End file.
